UK's Prince Philip puts foot in mouth with Aboriginal jibe

REUTERS , COOLUM, AUSTRALIA

Britain's Prince Philip, renowned for his tactless comments, asked an Australian Aborigine on Friday whether tribes still threw spears at each other.

The incident took place at the Tjapukai Aboriginal cultural park near the northern Australian town of Cairns, according to the Guardian newspaper. Prince Phillip is accompanying Queen Elizabeth on her Australian tour.

Aborigine William Brim, 42, the park's founder, said the prince asked: "Do you still throw spears at each other?" according to the newspaper. "No we don't do that any more," the paper quoted Brim as replying.

Australia's Aborigines are nomadic people and not known for tribal wars.

Prince Philip has succeeded in insulting the Chinese, Indians, Russians, Pacific islanders and Scots during the Queen's 50 years as monarch, according to the newspaper report.

During a visit to China in 1986, Prince Philip described Beijing as "ghastly" and told British students: "If you stay here much longer you'll all be slitty eyed," the Guardian said.

This story has been viewed 2429 times.

Comments will be moderated. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned.